Major makeover planned for Osborn neighborhood

Chris Lambert is the founder/president of Life Remodeled, the nonprofit that is raising money for a state-of-the-art roofing system for Osborn High School on Detroit’s east side.(Photo: 2014 photo by Regina H. Boone/Detroit Free Press)Buy Photo

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About 12,000 volunteers are needed to help around the school from Aug. 3-9.

The project will include boarding up 500 homes, remodeling 21 homes and tearing down 20.

Osborn High School will undergo a top-to-bottom face-lift this summer as part of a multimillion-dollar effort to revitalize an entire neighborhood.

The nonprofit group Life Remodeled is raising money for a new state-of-the art roofing system for the aging east-side school. The project includes plans to remodel Osborn's interior and board up more than 500 vacant homes within a 4.5-mile radius.

"The roof is atrocious. Students have been dodging raindrops for years," said Chris Lambert, CEO of Life Remodeled.

Workers plan to remove and repair the most damaged sections of the 156,000-square-foot roof and then cover the whole thing with a polymer-based, wind-vented system for around $900,000. A traditional roof tear-off and replacement would cost $2.4 million, officials said.

Work on the sections over the library and gym begins Monday. The new system will have a 20-year warranty.

Three roofing companies have agreed to provide discounted labor, said Dom Morelli, Life Remodeled vice president.

Life Remodeled and its partners are seeking 12,000 volunteers to help in the school and around the neighborhood during a weeklong work blitz from Aug. 3-9.

In addition to boarding up homes, an effort to be led by General Motors, volunteers will remodel the school's gym, cafeteria and library; beautify 300 blocks; and remodel 21 homes. Twenty burned out houses will be demolished. The total cost of the project is expected to top $5 million.

Founded in 2011, Life Remodeled strives to transform lives by restoring Detroit neighborhoods.

"You pick places where you see this will have a chance to take root," spokesman Al Adler said. "This is about sustaining neighborhoods."

As executive director of the Osborn Neighborhood Alliance, Quincy Jones has been working for years to clean up the community and make it safer. He said he's excited to see so many groups coming together to further that effort.

"You can't have a strong downtown and a strong Midtown and weak neighborhoods," he said. "You have to have strong neighborhood to have a strong Detroit."

The Skillman Foundation has provided a $200,000 grant for the project. Black Family Development received a $150,000 grant from the Kresge Foundation to support Life Remodeled and purchase lawn mowers, edgers, trimmers and other equipment.

As part of the Osborn project, Quicken Loans will focus on improving Pulaski Elementary-Middle School and the surrounding blocks.

Osborn houses three separate schools: Osborn College Preparatory Academy, Osborn Collegiate Academy of Mathematics, Science and Technology and Osborn Evergreen Academy of Design and Alternative Energy. It is part of Detroit Public Schools.

The project follows last summer's makeover of the Cody High School campus, which was also led by Life Remodeled and included the construction of a $1.2-million synthetic turf football field funded largely by in-kind donations as well as donated cash.

During one week last August, 10,500 volunteers helped spruce up the school and surrounding streets.

For more information about making a donation or volunteering, visit www.liferemodeled.com or call 313-744-3052.